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I don’t get it either. When it’s not broke don’t fix it. I’m glad Arrow showed them how it’s done. As it stands, DC owns TV and Marvel owns the Movies. They need to even those things out because we don’t know if Marvel movies are going to pick back up after the lame IM3 and we don’t know if Arrow will tie into the movies. Both disappointments but easily fixable.

I dunno, IM3 was a great movie and I don’t mind if Arrow isn’t a part of the movie universe.

What would be great is if they kick-started Green Arrow’s movie appearances with Todd Lasance playing him in that Supermax movie they were talking about years ago, that way you could introduce the character and his rogues gallery (plus other villains perhaps) via a non-origin story that studios haven’t tried yet in superhero movies (a superhero version of Fortress always sounds great).

As I wrote in the previous page: This show could have been good had it been bought by a cable network like HBO or AMC, and not by ABC. HBO could have produced it better with a tighter script, without stereotypes and on a 13 episode arc instead of a stretched out 24 episode arc (with unattached story lines from episode to episode).
It’s okay (and possible) to write stories about “normal” humans instead of superheroes (there ARE more us than there are superheroes after all) but don’t make us stereotypes.

the only character they half-assed pulled from the comics was Graviton-and thats it.
I agree with theprevious comments that there are plenty of non-superpowered characters as well as popular SHIELD agents that worked with Nick Fury-Clay Quartermain,Daisy Johnson,Dum Dum Dugan,Union Jack,and te rest of the howling commandos as well as The Invaders..the show needs to tie in with current continuity then trying to be apart from it..

I am not minding this show. Granted, there is room for improvement..but alot of people miss the point that it was never meant to be a tentpole thing like some apparently expected, but rather just a supplemental thing. Not a main course dish, but a side entree’. The way some of you are complaining, raging, and ragging to such a high degree, perhaps you should star in your own show, “Agents of Panty-Shield”!!

(Incidently, Almost Human is tolerable so far as well. Not great, but watchable).

And now Goldilocks has fallen into the same trap as others by assuming the negativity comes from people who expected major budgeted tentpole material.

I KNEW it would be a supplemental to the movies but that doesn’t excuse the poor writing. If this was anything non-Disney, it wouldn’t have lasted this long yet brilliantly written and acted shows like Low Winter Sun get cancelled after a single season and everyone acts like the show sucked while praising rubbish like AoS.

I can’t comment on Almost Human because we still don’t know when it will air in the UK. I know we’re getting Mob City debuting in mid January but that’s about it.

Just saw the Mid season final on Hulu and it did not make any sense.
Why doesn’t S.H.I.E.L.D have a hostage negotiator, or a Tactical Response Team.
Why does S.H.L.E.L.D send Coulson’s team an inexperienced Trainee as back-up against multiple super powered foes. Why doesn’t S.H.I.E.L.D engage in Defensive Counter Intelligence (analyzing potential weaknesses in one’s own agency which can be exploited by the enemy) potential weak links like – Syke, Mike Peterson, Ward and Coulson would never be in the same unit.

The show has a faulty premise (building team unity) in a corrupt world of international spies that are Double and Triple agents and currently the show is hurting Marvel’s brand. If Marvel wants to do a kiddie show than Power Pack, Dazzler, Shanna the she devil, or the Great Lakes Avengers would have been the proper choice because S.H.I.E.L.D is a mature property.

This has been my nagging issue with the show since a few episodes in, the agents as a group and as individuals just seem ill-equipped in any situation that goes beyond looking at computer screens. Most of the episodes portray them (and the agency as a whole) as being two steps behind whoever they are dealing with and in some cases they do more harm then good.

I will be the first to agree that it’s not the best show on television, but I think most are overly harsh and critical of its quality. It’s only halfway through its first season. Most great shows don’t really hit their stride until their second season at the earliest. Yes, there are notable exceptions, but not every show can be as good as Breaking Bad. Give it some time, folks. I still think the show has a lot of potential.

24. Homeland. Spartacus: Blood And Sand. Game Of Thrones. Hannibal. Arrow. Mad Dogs. Life On Mars (the superior UK version). Ashes To Ashes (the sequel to Life On Mars). The Following. The Borgias. Ray Donovan. Dracula. Derek. Sleepy Hollow.

All are brilliant shows that not only hit their stride early into their first season but are also far superior to AoS.

The Tunnel just finished a few days ago, only had 10 episodes, was a “one season only” thing and yet it too was also far better than AoS could ever hope to be.

I think you’re being extremely naive if you think AoS deserves a chance after the horrendous run it’s had so far or if you think a show should have a few seasons before people decide whether it’s worth watching or not.

It’s people like you who keep this crap on the air instead of letting it die like it needs to do.

Also, the Whedons openly say that they love Shakespeare and it influenced their writing but I don’t really see it. AoS would’ve be a lot better if they aren’t writing the show for kids. Look at Doctor Who, a family show but it’s enjoyable for adults as well. That conversation the girl in flower dress had the army guy was like from a cartoon.

Look at Person Of Interest, Sons Of Anarchy and Justified, the Shakespearean influenced in the writers writing is so beautiful that just watching two guys talking is so interesting.

@Dazz, if you like 24 and Homeland or even Spooks(during it’s run with Rupert Penry-Jones as the lead), Person Of Interest would suit your taste easily. Just think of Batman instead of Jack Bauer. Plus, I believe Channel 5(UK) aired I love Breaking Bad but I won’t compared them to Justified or Sons Of Anarchy. If you like Deadwood or Tarantino movies or even stuff like Lethal Weapons,(The first two movies with Shane Black’s writing) then you should would even Justified or Sons Of Anarchy.

@wildaburk, I’m liking The Blacklist but they still need some fixing, like the FBI being incompetent, a British CIA agent? or the lack of characterization of some of the show’s main cast aside from Spader’s Reddington and Boone’s agent Keen. Still, the good balance of procedural stories and ongoing mysteries keeps me satisfied for now.

The show is pretty uninteresting. no chemistry between the characters and no real villians. I say bring in better characters as merc’s. moon knight task master and paladin to name few, none are copyrighted for film

You would think as smart as these writers and producers are that they would just realize….”hey” lets see why Arrow is so good and try to introduce our own version of that.

Characters that people want!
Excellent Fight Scenes!
Good Story Line and Flashbacks!

Arrow is just genuinely a good show………where as AoS just fails on all fronts………

What the could do is center the show on trying to find more heroes because more Super Soldiers/Villains(different ones occasionally, but well known) and let the agents spend their time trying to track down new heroes………..It would be interesting.

I think the people that say the show needs more characters from the comics to be better are wrong. My proof of this is The Incredible Hulk TV series from the late 70s/early 80s. That show never had characters from the comics (with the exception of the TV movies they did later on) aside from Dr. Banner himself, and it was a fantastic show simply because it focused on the personal stories of the characters in each episode. If Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stays on that kind of path I honestly don’t mind. You don’t need all of these other heroes and villains making guest appearances on the show for it to be great. And honestly most of the time they DO reference the world of superheroes it comes across as just trying to appeal to everyone that complains about it. Leave that stuff for the movies, this is a smaller team that’s focused on smaller stories.

I’m afraid it’s not the same thing: Dr Banner is a character running around the world basically AVOIDING anything or anyone related to the comics. SHIELD is a global organization digging into things (the opposite direction than Banner) and thus having its agents virtually meeting NO ONE from the comics is not very plausible…

That certainly is a fair enough point. However, also remember that since Coulson is believed to be dead (hey just like Dr. Banner!), S.H.I.E.L.D. probably doesn’t want him running into people like Iron Man and Captain America. This show only focuses on this small team, not the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. organization in general. I’m not disagreeing with the point you made, as some comic characters need to come in at certain points to make it plausible. But my point was just that the show doesn’t NEED that to be good, it just needs strong individual stories if that’s the kind of show it wants to be.

the reason AOS sucks is because they made it like x-flies instead of focusing on the comics. the way shield can be better is by introducing characters from the comics and storylines like nick fury vs shield, characters like clay quatermain, contessa, jimmy woo, jake oh, daisy dugan, baron strucker, mercedes and villians like hydra, aim, ultimatum,zodiac and shadow council. jeph loeb if yu’re reading this plse put wht ive said into AOS.

The problem is they want to build a Marvel show without anything Marvel. They know there are people with special abilities but they don’t stop treating powers like they are some kind of occult mysteries. This is a Marvel universe. Powers are common.

Except that they’re NOT common – yet. The beginning of the show is premised on the idea that the Avengers were a surprise, a novelty. This isn’t a world where Spider-man has been around, and the Fantastic Four are already famous. We can’t expect that SHIELD is going to trip over a new superhero or villain every week. Not that I wouldn’t love to see that in every episode myself. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. While the show definitely has some flaws with regards to the main characters, I actally think they’e doing a decent job of building upon the existing movies. We’ve got someone who’s continuing the Extremis work. We’ve stumbled onto (and now been able to recognize) another Asguardian with a taste for Earth. We’ve seen ramifications from hanging onto a Chitauri souvenir. But we’ve also had Graviton (maybe) pop up out of the blue, and a problem with an old standby, a particle accelerator, which shows that there are other scientists getting into trouble of their own making.

I’m ready to finally be disappointed with their Coulson explanation, so we can get that over with an move on, but the more I think about the pacing of the technology and discovery throughout the season so far, the more I think there’s potential for a great show still.

What you are saying makes logical sense, but it also kind of unravels this live action “universe” they have been building via the films in a way. Clearly the notion of this larger universe has given some fans the idea that many of the characters and scenarios in the comics exist within the framework of this so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea of things really having stated from zero around the time Iron Man shows up means characters that are from the comics will have to either come from entirely new sources or be introduced as being in existence along the same timeline while remaining unnoticed.

Going off the theory that the dialog in the show there has not been a great deal of contact with super humans and super powers past what happened in the movies. Accepting that and going from there the premise of the show becomes much thinner than it already was (because now they have to create random scenarios to give the characters something to do) and it makes the whole build up S.H.I.E.L.D. in the movies seem a bit pointless if there really was not much activity past what viewers saw in the films.

I can see your point about how odd it would be for all of this activity starting to happen at the same time. It actually brings to mind a question that’s bothered me for a long time now: Given that the Hulk seemed to have been fairly new on the scene, and considered a monster, and that Thor hadn’t arrived yet, and Captain America had (presumably) been still frozen in the ocean, who exactly was Fury referring to when he introduced Tony Stark to “the Avengers Initiative”? I keep hoping to find a good explanation as to the exact timeline of the films some day. Maybe we’ll find that there have been other candidates all along (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch?), but explaining and incorporating that could get real messy really quickly.

Anyway, my opinion is that if you’re going to watch this kind of show (or movie), then you’ve got to be ready to just suck it up and buy into the story at some point. Obviously, C.A. came to be in the ’40s, and Asguardians have been around forever. So it’s not like everything is just happening at once. I see it as now things are coming to a head, and super beings are more “public”. Were people asking “Where did all of these other superheroes come from?” when DC started expanding beyond Batman and Superman? Or did they just go with it?

With comic book stuff, Ifind that the more I try to wrap my brain around it, the less fun it becomes. (Have you ever read a Wikipedia history of one of these characters? When you condense 50+ years of history into one entry, it seems REALLY crazy, no matter how much fun it was to actually read over years and years.) I love the movies, and if “Agents of SHIELD” does finally tank, it won’t take away from the films for me at all. But I’m hoping it will eventually turn out to be a great addition.

The whole “Avengers Initiative” idea probably was just a marketing ploy to get the solo movies heading into a cohesive direction for the Avengers film. How much forethought was put into an overall expanded cinematic/live action universe might now comes into question. The film universe as it stands really is not that large character wise, and much of the hype surrounding it might come from fans expectations of the flood gates opening with more known characters showing up. The timeline will probably be kept vague, but if and when they start doing other projects it will have to be explained if there were other characters who fit into the superhuman or extraordinary category. Assuming nothing really happened between Captain America and Iron Man would be a simple path, but even in the comics the Super Soldier program continued even if on an underground level and Howard Stark was still active in their world, so who knows what he was up to.

The funny thing is I think that the Avengers and the attack in New York was the perfect venue for more characters to have appeared, since Marvel comics have always been set mainly in New York. DC had many of their main heroes based in their own separate fictional cities, which made their crossing paths more forced. That is what I cannot understand about the S.H.I.E.L.D. program, why avoid the main focus of the Marvel films thus-far and one of the events and places they are always talking about for exposition sake?

I feel like there are a few things that really bug me about the show overall. I still watch it but I find a. The CGI really takes me out of the story. Its TV quality, but to pull off some of the goals of the show, its too visibly fake, b. The characters besides Coulson are too wooden, c. something about the cinematography is off. I can’t explain it on a technical level but it feels wrong, and you don’t get a feeling that the show is grounded. I would almost expect a gritty feel, not a happy quasi-Disney feel to this show if its to focus on the day-to-day agents. It feels like a dud firework, its got the casings of a superhero show but none of the superheroes.

My biggest beef with this show is that these are supposed to be SHIELD agents. So lets see SHIELD. I was excited with the Pilot when Grant tore through a cell of terrorist very MI/James Bond ish. I was excited. And the entire series since then has failed to capture any of that. I don’t give a crap about SKY at this point. Honestly I’d be ok with Fitz/Simmons being relegated to being their techs IN the plane and then get a functional cohesive team in the field with – gasp – actual operatives. Give us a Marvel Mission Impossible, The A Team, hell even Strike Back and yes ARROW. But give us action, give it to us in the world of Marvel. Use Stark Tech, you don’t have to create rubbish toys use whats already there.

I’m enjoying this show. Yes, it absolutely has room for improvement, and i understand peoples frustration with it, but personally I’m going to stick with it until the end of the season. If it sucks by then I might rethink it. if they were to serialize it a little more and have a bigger over arching storyline other than Coulson’s secret it could help alleviate some of the focus on the poor character development. Wouldn’t mind seeing some Marvel Characters pop up for an extend stay either, Like Moon Knight, that would be freaking awesome, or they could say FU to Disney and bring in Punisher for so serious ass-kicking (I know it will never happen, but a guy can hope).

Jed and his wife were involved in Spartacus from the very beginning so why couldn’t they ensure this show had the same compelling storylines and characters and the same brilliant writing that show had?

What’s killing this show is Sky and Ming. Neither Character is believable. Plus Ming is horrible. Her one note orchestra is almost comical to watch. Sorry but they have miss cast this. It feels like they are targeting Teen girls with this show.

I still think the black guy is going to end up being Luke Cage. I think we will find out that he survived the explosion in the last scenes due to his abilities. They will pull him out of the ocean or whatever nearby at the start of his solo show on Netflix. Then they can go back and do his origins and life about his kid BEFORE he met Agents of Shield.

Their first mistake was letting Jeph Loeb anywhere near it. This man destroys all he touches in the TV medium. Look how he screwed up the Avengers animated show, the Ultimate Spider-Man show, and Agents of Smash. Get rid of him first. That will fix 50% of their problems right off the bat.

The show’s problem is not the lack of superheroes. It just doesn’t feel like the show and the movies are inhabiting the same universe. It’s the same problem that the animated shows suffer from. That idiot Jeph Loeb plays up the comedy, but nothing else. The movies have comedy in them, but it’s much more subdued. It’s not “in your face” slapstick like the TV show keeps doing. Also, there is ZERO cohesiveness.

I was reminded of the show Primeval on BBC. There was a show with a modest budget that managed to take a core team, as a part of a larger group that investigated strange phenomenon and mixed monsters if the week with an overarching plot that kept the viewers interested. How is it that AoS fails so badly?

Funny you should mention Primeval because I hated that show too. It came across as even worse than Doctor Who in the writing, acting and CGI areas but at least I was able to enjoy Doctor Who (until Matt Smith came along anyway).

This show has been a bitter disappointment to me not because it’s bad, but even worse because it’s just dull. I was expecting to see Shield as a badass agency comprised of agents ala Person of Interest or 24, fighting superhuman threats across the globe. Instead we get to see Agents Of Shield: Geek Squad.
If they want to save this show there are a couple of simple fixes. First fire Jeph Loeb; everything that man touches on TV turns to s***. Unfunny, homogenized, childish s***. Next get rid of the dead weight, namely Skye, either Fitz or Simmons (don’t care which) & Ward. Resolve Coulson’s secret already because it isn’t all that interesting to begin with. Lastly, & most importantly, gather all the writers in a padded cell, Clockwork Orange-style, & force them to watch Arrow, Person Of Interest, & 24 on a loop for about a month. Show me the Shield that’s hinted at in the Captain America 2 trailer for God’s sake.

Fitz and Simmons are the most interesting dynamic characters in a very dull show… which speaks volumes as to how much this show fails. the show needs to pick up for sure. Thorrible 2 was only bearable during the Loki scenes mainly, Iron Crap 3 is just bad, and the First Craptain America movie is garbage and tough to get through once, bad period piece is bad.. so far Mickey Joe Quesada Mouse has really only struck gold with the first Thor, first Iron Man, and Avengers. Captain America 2 actually looks ok… as of right now Days of Future Past is Marvel’s big chance to win back the naysayers. GotG might be a good one too, if they make Ronan a decent long lasting villain/anti-hero like Loki,but less emo. -nuff said,

Here is how i see it and where I’ll leave it. AoS is a show nothing more nothing less. For marvel, it’s a let down not to see some villains, some not even referenced. People complain to see villains with super powers but the show(being a TV show) cannot handle such story origins. When they do, people(who were expecting agents to be fighting super villains or recruiting super heroes) they throw a huge fit that it’s supposed to be a show without main lead super villains. I say give AoS to Whedon. I know he has so much planned on his shoulder’s that he needs a short break. But this show could have waited for him. So while fans bite their nails to get it better, it won’t work. The show is a show with badly written non-Whedon writers, yet the show was based of his thoughts but idiot writers cannot handle such a universe that Whedon has in his own mind. For all those who complain you just shouldn’t watch it if you come on here and rage about the show not being good. If you don’t like it don’t waste your time watching it. I enjoy it as a Tuesday show. I watch it looking for truth about coulson. As many fanboys want cameos and lead characters, they are stupid. The show will NOT FOCUS on MAIN SUPER villains. Once you can get that down your throat, it’s an OK show. Then again when Coulson is revealed will the show end? Doubt it but after that ratings and viewers will drop to the ground and hit zero. I personally think they could do so much with the phase 2 if Shield weapons and Hydra or Hammer Co. But they won’t. ADD them for goodness sakes so people will stop getting rage rashes!

“the plan” should be to fire jeph loeb. this is the guy who drive heroes so hard into the ground it lives in infamy, and who wrote ultimates 3 and the red hulk storyline. this guy should stay as far away from any comic book related medium as humanly possible.

How Will Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Change Things Up in 2014?

When it was revealed that Joss Whedon had not only signed on to write and direct The Avengers sequel (Age of Ultron) and help guide Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but would develop a live-action TV series set in same universe, it was the safest of all bets that the show’s pilot would be picked up. And it did with the help of Marvel branding and the return of fan-favorite Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) from the dead to lead its cast.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.premiered strong on the ratings front but has remained on a mostly downwards slope with a few upswings for key episodes ever since. The midseason finale however, despite being marketed strongly, was the season’s lowest viewed episode yet. So what will ABC and Marvel do to turn things around when Agent Coulson and co. return in January?

When Whedon and writers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon discussed the show at the outset it was described as a series about the “ordinary” people behind-the-scenes helping keep safe a world now host to super-powered beings and aliens. It would “weave in and out of the films” as Joss told us at Comic-Con but wouldn’t rely on characters from the movies or comics. But are the unknown S.H.I.E.L.D. agents created just for the series enough to sustain a Marvel show – against major hype and expectations – that’s meant to share the same space as the films? Not anymore.

They tried but despite their best efforts, the viewers are dropping off and the reaction to most episodes has been mixed at best – read some reader reactions in the comments here and follow along on Twitter after each episode for examples. TV Guide and The Huffington Post even labeled the series as the season’s “biggest disappointment” – and that’s the type of publicity the Marvel brand cannot accept going forward into Phase Two of the film franchise, and against steep upcoming competition.

Whether it’s the characters, storytelling, lack of superheroes and characters from Marvel Comics, or the tone of the show, we can expect some changes as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. heads into its most crucial period early next year. The midseason finale ended with a cliffhanger that left many of its key characters in awkward spots (read: an opportunity to change the team chemistry). With two new regulars joining the cast, the creatives have a chance to start fresh in January, should they choose. There’s also a lot riding on the show to help setup some of the background for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier releases on April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on July 31, 2015, and unannounced films for May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.